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Danger on the Bering Sea

I have an addiction to a television show, folks. It happens to be Deadliest Catch.

Unlike other programs I’ve watched, I never get tired of it because it’s real. It’s real reality television that’s dangerous and tense whether or not cameras are rolling. The drama factor is present, but not because it’s tweaked for Hollywood. A group of headstrong guys are thrown together in a super high-stress, I-could-get-killed-out-here job, away from their families for months at a time, so the arguments and frustrations are legit.

The job is a gamble….the fishermen could lose or win big time. If they don’t catch the crab, they don’t make a dime. They could also walk away with roughly 50k in three months. It’s high stakes….high risk and rewards. I honestly just have a lot of respect for men like this who learned through the school of hard knocks and literally pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their work.

In honor of Deadliest Catch’s 9th season, (which is currently airing on Discovery channel, Tuesday nights!) here are 12 random things I’ve learned about crab fishing and about myself over the years of dedicated viewing:

1) If I could choose a boat to crab fish on, it would be the Northwestern. Norwegian master fishing, all the way!

2) A close second would be the Time Bandit, because they do fun stuff like fire their rifles in subarctic temperatures to remove ice from the ships highest points. And they use explosives for fun and pranks.

3) Well, I said that I would want to be on the Northwestern, but if that required me to take my turn at biting off a raw herring’s head at the beginning of the season, then I would seriously reconsider.

4) We all know that I could never be a crab fisherman (er…woman…) because women are bad luck on a boat (and they don’t care if that’s PC or not!)

5) I also live in a fantasy land. If I ever really stepped foot on a crab boat, I’d be barfing in the galley from seasickness, the rank smell of fish, and the fear of being thrown overboard. If you saw this week’s episode, I woulda been right there next to New Nick, losing my lunch 10 minutes after pulling out of port.

6) Captain Keith of the Wizard is one of my favorites. He has a temper, but he grows on you. He also plays a mean harmonica.

7) I like that the producers keep it to the fishing. At the same time I appreciate the glimpses into some of the men’s lives, but in a way that doesn’t risk overexposure.

8) I like to picture myself throwing the hook at the rail to haul 900 pound pots from the water. In reality, it would probably drop out of my hand and pitifully lob over the side and someone would shout, “You throw like a girl!”

9) As they all say, crab fishing is way harder than it looks.

10) Being a greenhorn is a horrible job. Mostly you get yelled at all day for packing shredded bits of fish into countless containers the wrong way.

11) If you fall into the freezing waters you pretty much have 10 seconds to be rescued. At any given time the captain could be called on to sew a sliced finger or call for the coast guard to med-evac a seizing deckhand off the boat.

12) Fishermen really do curse like…..fishermen. 😉

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3 thoughts on “Danger on the Bering Sea”

This really made me smile! I’m glad to know I have company in my addiction. And in the first few seasons, there were two boats with woman on board. They were the wives of the captains. Needless to say, they are no longer on the show. Coincidence?

A couple of years back, I met a couple of the fisherman. I’m pretty sure it was Divine Intervention.
~Pony

Yes, I remember the boats that had women on board as the ship’s chef, etc. I thought…I could do that! But I also remember other captains saying it was such bad luck. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed my post! Thanks for reading.